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Hickling Broad is a Template:Convert nature reserve 4 km south-east of Stalham, north-east of Norwich in Norfolk. It is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust.<ref name=NWT>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is a National Nature Reserve<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and part of the Upper Thurne Broads and Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Hickling Broad and Horsey Mere Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It is in the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and part of the Broadland Ramsar site<ref name=broadram>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Special Protection Area,<ref name=broadspa>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and The Broads Special Area of Conservation.<ref name=broadssac>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
It is the broad with the largest surface area, and the water is slightly brackish, due to its proximity to the sea.<ref name=jane>Inland Waterways of Great Britain, Jane Cumberlidge, (2009), Imray Laurie Norie and Wilson, Template:ISBN</ref> The navigation channel is only 1.5 m deep, with much of the broad being shallower; it is 1.4 km2, making it one of the largest expanses of open water in East Anglia.
EcologyEdit
It has the largest reed-bed in England and supports rare waterweeds such as the holly-leaved naiad and three rare species of stonewort. Amongst the rare insects is the Swallowtail butterfly, subspecies Papilio machaon brittanicus which feeds on milk-parsley (Peucedanum palustre), the Norfolk hawker Aeshna isosceles and Emperor dragonfly. Birds that visit the reserve during the winter include cranes, common goldeneyes, shovelers and teals, while Eurasian bitterns, marsh harriers, common pochards, water rails and Cetti's warblers stay for most of the year.<ref name=nwt>Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Hickling Broad NNR, accessed 2010-03-13</ref> There is a waymarked walk around the broad.
Sea planesEdit
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Hickling Broad was used as reserve station for sea planes by the RNAS, in the period 1916–1918, as an escape for RNAS South Denes. It was known as RNAS Hickling Broad. Contractors started building a concrete slipway, but this was never completed. Eventually, Hickling was only used for two emergency landings. A separate arrangement allowed seaplanes destined for Great Yarmouth to land on the calmer waters of the broad if the sea were too rough (this arrangement stands to this day). RNAS South Denes was located in the area which is now the South Denes Camping and Caravan site.<ref>Great Yarmouth’s air aces who took on the Zeppelins; Trevor Heaton; Article in the Eastern Daily Press; 16 december 2017</ref> There is a commemorative Blue plaque in Regent Street in Great Yarmouth, it reads "Headquarters of the Royal Naval Air Service Occupied these premises during WWI April 1913-November 1918 Flying land & sea planes from South Denes, Hickling Broad[s] [sic], and heavily involved in anti Zeppelin warfare."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ReferencesEdit
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